Beneath It All
by jocular monoceros
Summary: WARNING: Contains spoilers for manga chapter 328. Are remarks and insults all there is to some relationships? Temari runs into Shikamaru on the street. They eat and play shougi, as well as catch up in general. Can be viewed as shikatema or friendship.
1. Chapter 1

**_Beneath It All_**

**A/N: **This started out as a shikatema fic but the ending I originally had seemed too OOC. Anyone who highly disapproves of this couple ... you can leave Lol but it doesn't explicitly state that they are anything more than friends but it can still be perceived that they are.

**WARNING:** Spoilers for manga chapter 328.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Naruto. _All characters within this fanfiction belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

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Temari entered the Hokage's building, nodding to the guards as she passed, making her way straight towards the Hokage's office. Shikamaru hadn't met her at the gate, nor had any other guide; she supposed she'd been there enough times to know her way around. She had to insist upon the Hokage not to send her an escort, especially with the current state of things when she might need her ninjas for other tasks. She had been returning from a mission when Gaara sent word to her to show that Suna was an ally of Konoha and to discuss possible plans of actions between the two villages by going to Konoha herself. She ordered the rest of the ninja with her to return to Suna, as Gaara had left it up to her to decide what to ask of them. She was an ambassador and she could take care of herself. Plus, she knew they'd be exhausted.

As she left the Hokage's, however, she ran into none other than Shikamaru.

'Hey Crybaby,' she greeted him in her usual jaunting voice. He looked up, realising whom it was. He smirked.

'Troublesome woman,' he responded in greeting, 'what brings you to Konoha?'

'Gaara thinks it's a good idea if I personally ask Tsunade-sama about what Suna can do and vice versa,' she answered, as they walked out together.

'Ah, so you're the little messenger then?' he taunted.

She rolled his eyes at him, half expecting him to continue on about men and women and who fitted the 'messenger' role but he said nothing else. He only continued to walk in silence beside her through the streets of Konoha, hands in his pockets, watching the sky.

'Where are you going? Or meant to be going?' she asked him.

'I assumed you were going to eat with me,' he answered simply.

'Did I ask for your company?' she retorted.

'No, but I know it's always welcome,' he responded with another Shikamaru smirk. She made to hit him but he stepped away quickly. 'Tch, troublesome woman. Where would you like to eat then?'

'Who said I agreed to eat with you at all,' Temari continued stubbornly.

'Well if you'd rather have no company and pay for lunch yourself then be my guest.' He knew she wouldn't turn down a free meal. Moreover, he knew she wouldn't mind having someone to talk to while she was in Konoha, and it had been a while since they'd seen each other and insulted each other.

'Hmmm … I feel like barbeque,' she answered, 'know any good places?'

Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly before a gentle look crossed his features, before quickly being replaced by a harder expression.

'Sure do.'

'Lead the way then.'

They happily ate and caught up, a few spiteful exchanges included of course. He asked her how Gaara and Kankurou were doing, as well as Suna in general and the 'troublesome children' that had been there from the last Chuunin exam they organised. She in turn asked how things were with Ino, Chouji, Konoha, how everyone was. Halfway through their conversation, however, Temari watched Shikamaru take out a cigarette and make to light it.

She blinked in shock a couple of times.

'What?' he said, exhaling, smoke filling the room.

'I didn't know you smoked,' she answered, eyeing him carefully.

'Oy! You! Boy! No smoking inside! OY SHIKAMARU!' the woman said, realising who it was, 'you know better than that, smoke outside! Out! NOW! And to think you, Ino and Chouji used to be the ones telling off Asuma, bless him.'

Shikamaru got up and paid, before standing and waiting outside for Temari. When she arrived outside, she gave him an odd look.

'What?'

She raised a brow at him, 'if you knew better then why'd you do it?'

Shikamaru exhaled, tilting his head back to look at the sky, a small smile on his face.

'Asuma-sensei always smoked when we went in there to eat barbeque,' he told her.

'So that means you should?' she continued on.

He looked over at her, moving the cigarette from his mouth. 'Asuma-sensei died not that long ago,' he answered her. Shock and regret were etched on her face; she obviously hadn't known.

'I'm sorry to hear that,' she said, looking back inside at where they had been sitting.

'It's ok. It's kind of a remembrance, I guess. He'd always forget or purposefully try to hide it and he'd get told to go outside, just like I was.'

Temari didn't know what to do or say and instead tried to offer him a gentle smile. At least she hoped it turned out like that.

He didn't seem to notice, though, just continued talking. 'Sometimes he did it just to get out of paying though, leaving us with the bill.'

His smile widened, and Temari felt the corners of her lips tug too. After a moment of silence, Shikamaru turned back to her with a kind smile.

'Thanks for letting me treat you to lunch, Temari,' he told her. In response, she gave him yet another strange look.

'The lazy ass has grown manners? And finds something not troublesome?'

He merely shook his head at her, 'It seems that you haven't changed, still the troublesome woman you are?' She responded with a smirk.

'What are you planning for the rest of your day?' he asked her. Another odd look followed.

'Why do you care, you don't have to follow me everywhere I go this time,' she answered in a defensive tone.

Shikamaru muttered to himself, causing Temari to inwardly smile. 'I was just going to check into my hotel and then wander around town I suppose. Are you offering your company?'

He shrugged. 'Sure. I've nowhere else to be. A man can't let a woman wander around on her own, after all.'

She laughed. 'Still going on about that, I see.'

He smirked in response. They walked in silence to the place Temari would be staying at.

'Say, Temari?' he asked, while he sat on a sofa while he waited for her to get herself settled.

'You're using my name? Wow, you really have changed, haven't you, Nara?' she mocked. He shook his head, a smile on his lips. 'What is it, though?'

'Do you play shougi?'

'Yes, why?'

'Do you play well?'

'Yes, why?'

'Would you like to play with me?'

Temari cocked a brow again. 'My my, Nara, aren't you the pervert.'

'You know what I mean,' Shikamaru answered, muttering about how troublesome she was with her twisting around of what he was saying.

'Sure, Nara, let's play,' she mocked him.

He rolled her eyes at her. 'I have a board at home. I'll go get it if you want to play here. Otherwise we can go to my place.'

'Wow, you do move fast, don't you?' she taunted.

'Troublesome woman, stop twisting things around,' he said to her, exiting the apartment. Smirking to herself, she picked up her fan and followed him.

'Let's go see what it's like inside the Crybaby's home,' she continued on as they walked through the streets. She knew where he lived. She'd met him there a couple of times when they were organising the Chuunin exams but she never entered.

'Be quiet when you go inside though,' he warned her, 'that troublesome woman might hear us.'

She poked him in the side. 'You really do sound like you're being a naughty boy, you know that.' He jerked from her poking, before sticking his head inside the house.

'All clear,' he said to her, carefully walking around inside.

'Hey Shikamaru, who's this 'troublesome woman' you were talking about?' Temari asked loudly, smirking at the glare he shot at her. Soon enough, a woman came to greet them.

'Shikamaru! You're home? And who's this you've brought with you?'

'Troublesome woman,' he muttered. 'This is Sabaku no Temari. This is my mother.' Temari bowed.

'Oh no, it's ok,' the older woman told her. 'Do you two want anything to eat?' she asked.

'No thank you,' Shikamaru answered quickly.

'Shikamaru! You didn't even ask Temari-san!'

'It's ok. I'm used to his rudeness,' she answered with a smile, causing his mother to death stare him. 'Besides, we just ate, so it's ok.'

'Oh you had lunch together? A date?'

Shikamaru shook his head as Temari suppressed a laugh, smiling instead. 'No no, just lunch.'

'We'll be outside,' he told his mother, pushing Temari away from her.

'You did that on purpose,' he hissed at her.

'I didn't do anything!' she responded innocently. 'Where are we going? I thought we were going outside.'

'We're getting away from my mother, getting the shougi board then going outside.'

She rolled her eyes, pulling her arm back away from him. 'Well could you at least let me walk on my own?'

They sat on the porch, concentrating on their game. After they'd finished and were setting up for another game, Shikamaru having won to Temari's great dismay and disapproval, causing her to demand a rematch, his mother came outside with some tea.

'I see you've found someone to play shougi with again, Shikamaru,' she said to him with a smile, 'that's good,' setting the tea down before walking off.

Temari watched his mother walk off. What did that mean?

'What did she mean by that, Shikamaru?' she asked, pouring herself some tea.

'I used to play with Asuma-sensei, that's all. Since he passed away I haven't exactly found any one to play shougi with me other than my dad, and that's only when he's not busy with work or busy being lazy.'

'Oh, I see,' she answered, sipping her tea.

'I miss him, you know. It's still kind of weird not having him around, not being able to play shougi with him. Not having him on our missions.' He pulled out the lighter from his pockets and examined it carefully. 'I grew up with no siblings to play with,' he told her, something she already knew. 'I suppose playing shougi with him kind of made me think of siblings playing together. I don't see him as my brother or anything, but just having someone there to play a game with I suppose.'

Temari stayed silent. She really didn't know what she should say. She decided she'd just listen.

'It hasn't felt the same when other people tried to play shougi with me. Even though I always beat Asuma-sensei, it was different then. Ino and Chouji tried but Chouji wasn't that focused, more on the snacks he ate while we played and Ino wasn't that interested in it, not to mention loud.'

Temari smiled a bit, just as he did.

'Why'd you ask me then?' she asked him.

He smirked. 'Because I knew I'd beat you.'

Temari's temper raged, 'excuse me?!'

Soon enough, Shikamaru was sporting another huge bump on his head, and Temari's wrath had claimed another victim.

He rubbed his head, muttering to himself yet again. 'Ok ok. Fine. I asked you because I thought you were fairly intelligent to play against, and there's already some competition between us anyway,' he shrugged.

After a few more moments, she asked, 'why do you tell me these things? About Asuma-sensei?'

He shrugged once more, before letting his eyes wander towards the sky again.

'I trust you,' he told her simply, looking back at her with a somewhat embarrassed look on his face. She smiled in return.

'Are you ok with the whole Asuma thing?' she asked him.

'Yeah. I haven't really talked to anyone about it. Ino, Chouji and I do, but what I tell them doesn't go down that deep. I can't bring myself to do it. Kurenai-sensei I talk to about him more though, but at the same time I'd told her I wanted to become a cool adult like him… so I couldn't exactly go running to her like a little kid now could I? And you remember what my dad said to me during the Sasuke incident…'

Temari looked down at their game. 'Yeah, I do.'

'It hurt so much,' he told her in a quiet voice. She raised her eyes to see him with his head down. 'I couldn't stop them, I couldn't help him…'

His hand gripped his knees tightly, Temari instinctively leaning across the board to place her hand on his. She felt a blush threaten her cheeks, and nervousness to pool in her stomach. They were barely used to having normal conversation, let alone heartfelt ones.

'He meant a lot to you, right? Of course it would,' she told him gently.

'I know … but you never expect the kind of pain you feel.'

Her own eyes looked downwards. That she knew too well.

'I killed the man who killed him,' he told her, Temari looking up at him in slight shock. Shikamaru? Killing? She knew it was the way of the shinobi but she found it hard to believe that someone as gentle, moreover lazy, as him could do it.

'He's on our land somewhere… buried.'

She gripped his hand tightly in response, feeling hot tears on her hand.

'Crybaby,' she said in a soft voice, trying to get him to lighten up.

He smirked in response, but looked up at her all the same, his eyes reflecting pools of grief and sadness. Temari gave him an understanding smile.

'I tell you, Temari, because I know that despite the spiteful comments and physical abuse, you're human.' Temari retracted her hand from his and poked him. Hard. He smiled in response, tears having stopped.

'When I'm around everyone else,' he told her, 'it feels like I have to be strong. For Ino, for Chouji, for Kurenai-sensei.' His eyes wandered around their surroundings as he paused to ponder his thoughts. 'But with you, it feels like I don't have to be.'

He looked at her once again. He looked so lost, she thought, afraid even. Hurt. He needed comfort. That's what his eyes told her.

'I know from when we spoke at the hospital, that you wouldn't brush me off, even if you called me a crybaby again later,' he added with a smirk. She smiled back. 'But at that time, you spoke to me, directly to me. Even though you basically did tell me to suck it up, you listened and didn't say anything against me for it. You've called me crybaby since then, but you never repeated my father's words, you never called me a 'spineless coward', even though I know you heard him say it. Even though I know you heard everything he said to me, you didn't bring anything else up other than a superficiality. That's why I can't help but talk to you. That's why I can't help but trust you.'

'I know what you mean,' she told him, looking up at the clouds he'd been looking at before. 'We have a strange relationship, don't we? Insults, spiteful comments, arguments and all…but beneath it all there's… well, there's what you said.'

She offered him a kind smile, and this time she knew that it showed. If not on her lips, then at least through her eyes. He smiled back.

'Now … shall we play another round?' she asked him, her smile returning to her trademark smirk. He shook his head in response.

'I don't understand why you like to lose so much, troublesome woman,' he said to her, eyes meeting hers, matching her smirk.

Yes. Beneath the remarks and competition is a friend you know you can trust.

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**A/N: **If you're a shikatema fan and would like to see the ending I originally had, let me know and I might add it on as another chapter or something. Otherwise, there won't be another chapter to continue this. Lol and I didn't intend that as a threat! This is a one-shot

- jm


	2. Alternate Ending SHIKATEMA

**_Beneath It All - Alternate Ending (ShikaTema)_**

**A/N: **heyy This is the alternate ending for the shikatema fans. Do not read this if you do not support the pairing or highly disapprove of them. I've left the start of the story that was in the previous chapter so you know where it flows on ... but the 'ending' itself starts maybe 4/5 down the page? After they play shougi at least. It's not too heavy on the romance but I tried to change it at the end a bit ... Lol my primary intention was to have a subtle relationship with simple actions and hence the previous chapter was published So if this seems a bit weird to you ... I don't blame you lol

One more time. If you prefer the previous chapter where actions can simply be perceived as friendship or more, do NOT read further.

Thank you. And thank you to all who reviewed. I greatly appreciate the feedback Shikamaru and Temari might seem a bit OOC with this ending as well so if you don't like that either I again suggest you stop reading Thanks for reading my long A/N lol sorry!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Naruto_. All characters within this fanfiction belong to Masashi Kishimoto

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Temari entered the Hokage's building, nodding to the guards as she passed, making her way straight towards the Hokage's office. Shikamaru hadn't met her at the gate, nor had any other guide; she supposed she'd been there enough times to know her way around. She had to insist upon the Hokage not to send her an escort, especially with the current state of things when she might need her ninjas for other tasks. She had been returning from a mission when Gaara sent word to her to show that Suna was an ally of Konoha and to discuss possible plans of actions between the two villages by going to Konoha herself. She ordered the rest of the ninja with her to return to Suna, as Gaara had left it up to her to decide what to ask of them. She was an ambassador and she could take care of herself. Plus, she knew they'd be exhausted.

As she left the Hokage's, however, she ran into none other than Shikamaru.

'Hey Crybaby,' she greeted him in her usual jaunting voice. He looked up, realising who it was. He smirked.

'Troublesome woman,' he responded in greeting, 'what brings you to Konoha?'

'Gaara thinks it's a good idea if I personally ask Tsunade-sama about what Suna can do and vice versa,' she answered, as they walked out together.

'Ah, so you're the little messenger then?' he taunted.

She rolled his eyes at him, half expecting him to continue on about men and women and who fitted the 'messenger' role but he said nothing else. He only continued to walk in silence beside her through the streets of Konoha, hands in his pockets, watching the sky.

'Where are you going anyway?' she asked him.

'I assumed you were going to eat with me,' he answered simply.

'Did I ask for your company?' she retorted.

'No, but I know it's always welcome,' he responded with another cocky smirk. She made to hit him but he stepped away quickly. 'Tch, troublesome woman. Where would you like to eat then?'

'Who said I agreed to eat with you at all,' Temari continued stubbornly.

'Well if you'd rather have no company and pay for lunch yourself then be my guest.' He knew she wouldn't turn down a free meal. Moreover, he knew she wouldn't mind having someone to talk to while she was in Konoha, and it had been a while since they'd seen each other.

'Hmmm … I feel like barbeque,' she answered, 'know any good places?'

Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly before a gentle look crossed his features, before quickly being replaced by a harder expression.

'Sure do.'

'Lead the way then.'

They happily ate and caught up, a few spiteful exchanges included of course. He asked her how Gaara and Kankurou were doing, as well as Suna in general and the 'troublesome children' that had been there from the last Chuunin exam they organised. She in turn asked how things were with Ino, Chouji, Konoha, how everyone was. Halfway through their conversation, however, Temari watched Shikamaru take out a cigarette and make to light it.

She blinked in shock a couple of times.

'What?' he said, exhaling, smoke filling the room.

'I didn't know you smoked,' she answered, eyeing him carefully.

'Oy! You! Boy! No smoking inside! OY SHIKAMARU!' the woman said, realising who it was, 'you know better than that, smoke outside! Out! NOW! And to think you, Ino and Chouji used to be the ones telling off Asuma, bless him.'

Shikamaru got up and paid, before standing and waiting outside for Temari. When she arrived outside, she gave him an odd look.

'What?'

She raised a brow at him, 'if you knew better then why'd you do it?'

Shikamaru exhaled, tilting his head back to look at the sky, a small smile on his face.

'Asuma-sensei always smoked when we went in there to eat barbeque,' he told her.

'So that means you should?' she continued on.

He looked over at her, moving the cigarette from his mouth. 'Asuma-sensei died not that long ago,' he answered her. Shock and regret were etched in her face; she obviously hadn't known.

'I'm sorry to hear that,' she said, looking back inside at where they were sitting.

'It's ok. It's kind of a remembrance, I guess. He'd always forget or purposefully try to hide it and he'd get told to go outside, just like I was.'

Temari didn't know what to do or say. She tried to offer him a gentle smile, at least she hoped it turned out like that.

He didn't seem to notice, though, just continued talking. 'Sometimes he did it just to get out of paying though, leaving us with the bill.'

His smile widened, and Temari felt the corners of her lips tug too. After a moment of silence, Shikamaru turned back to her with a kind smile.

'Thanks for letting me treat you to lunch, Temari,' he told her. In response, she gave him yet another strange look.

'The lazy ass has grown manners? And finds something not troublesome?'

He merely shook his head at her, 'It seems that you haven't changed, still the troublesome woman you are?' She responded with a smirk.

'What are you planning for the rest of your day?' he asked her. Another odd look followed.

'Why do you care, you don't have to follow me everywhere I go this time,' she answered in a defensive tone.

Shikamaru muttered to himself, causing Temari to inwardly smile. 'I was just going to check into my hotel and then wander around town I suppose. Are you offering your company?'

He shrugged. 'Sure. I've nowhere else to be. A man can't let a woman wander around on her own, after all.'

She laughed. 'Still going on about that, I see.'

He smirked in response. They walked in silence to the place Temari would be staying at.

'Say, Temari?' he asked, while he sat on a sofa while he waited for her to get herself settled.

'You're using my name? Wow, you really have changed, haven't you, Nara?' she mocked. He shook his head, a smile on his lips. 'What is it, though?'

'Do you play shogi?'

'Yes, why?'

'Do you play well?'

'Yes, why?'

'Would you like to play with me?'

Temari cocked a brow again. 'My my, Nara, aren't you the pervert.'

'You know what I mean,' Shikamaru answered, muttering about how troublesome she was with her twisting around of what he was saying.

'Sure, Nara, let's play,' she mocked him.

He rolled her eyes at her. 'I have a board at home. I'll go get it if you want to play here. Otherwise we can go to my place.'

'Wow, you do move fast, don't you?' she taunted.

'Troublesome woman, stop twisting things around,' he said to her, exiting the apartment. Smirking to herself, she picked up her fan and followed him.

'Let's go see what it's like inside the Crybaby's home,' she continued on as they walked through the streets. She knew where he lived. She'd met him there a couple of times when they were organising the Chuunin exams but she never entered.

'Be quiet when you go inside though,' he warned her, 'that troublesome woman might hear us.' She poked him in the side. 'You really do sound like you're being a naughty boy, you know that.' He jerked from her poking, poking his head inside the house.

'All clear,' he said to her, carefully walking around inside.

'Hey Shikamaru, who's this 'troublesome woman' you were talking about?' Temari asked loudly, smirking at the glare he shot at her. Soon enough, a woman came to greet them.

'Shikamaru! You're home? And who's this you've brought with you?'

'Troublesome woman,' he muttered. 'This is Subaku no Temari. This is my mother.' Temari bowed.

'Oh no, it's ok,' the older woman told her. 'Do you two want anything to eat?' she asked.

'No thank you,' Shikamaru answered quickly.

'Shikamaru! You didn't even ask Temari-san!'

'It's ok. I'm used to his rudeness,' she answered with a smile, causing his mother to death stare him. 'Besides, we just ate, so it's ok.'

'Oh you had lunch together? A date?'

Shikamaru shook his head as Temari suppressed a laugh, smiling instead. 'No no, just lunch.'

'We'll be outside,' he told his mother, pushing Temari away from her.

'You did that on purpose,' he hissed at her.

'I didn't do anything!' she responded innocently. 'Where are we going? I thought we were going outside.'

'We're getting away from my mother, getting the shogi board then going outside.'

She rolled her eyes, pulling her arm back away from him. 'Well could you at least let me walk on my own, jeeez.'

They sat on the porch, concentrating on their game. After they'd finished and were setting up for another game, Shikamaru having won to Temari's great dismay and disapproval, causing her to demand a rematch, his mother came outside with some tea.

'I see you've found someone to play shogi with again, Shikamaru,' she said to him with a smile, 'that's good,' setting the tea down before walking off.

Temari watched his mother walk off. What did that mean?

'What did she mean by that, Shikamaru?' she asked, pouring herself some tea.

'I used to play with Asuma-sensei, that's all. Since he passed away I haven't exactly found any one to play shogi with me other than my dad, and that's only when he's not busy or busy being lazy.'

'Oh, I see,' she answered, sipping her tea.

'I miss him, you know. It's still kind of weird not having him around, not being able to play shogi with him. Not having him in our missions.' He pulled out the lighter from his pockets and examined it carefully. 'I grew up with no siblings to play with,' he told her, something she already knew. 'I suppose playing shogi with him kind of made me think of siblings playing together. I don't see him as my brother or anything, but just having someone there to play a game with I suppose.'

Temari stayed silent. She didn't really know what she should say. She decided she'd just listen.

'It hasn't felt the same when other people tried to play shogi with me. Even though I always beat Asuma-sensei, it was different then. Ino and Chouji tried but Chouji wasn't that focused, more on the snacks he ate while we played and Ino wasn't that interested in it, not to mention loud.'

Temari smiled a bit, just as he did.

'Why'd you ask me then?' she asked him.

He smirked. 'Because I knew I'd beat you.'

Temari's temper raged, 'nani?!'

Soon enough, Shikamaru was sporting another huge bump on his head, and Temari's wrath had claimed another victim.

He rubbed his head, muttering to himself yet again. 'Ok ok. Fine. I asked you because I thought you were fairly intelligent to play against, and there's already some competition between us anyway,' he shrugged.

After a few more moments, she asked, 'why do you tell me these things? About Asuma-sensei?'

He shrugged once more, before letting his eyes wander towards the sky again.

'I trust you,' he told her simply, looking back at her with a somewhat embarrassed look on his face. She smiled in return.

'Are you ok with the whole Asuma thing?' she asked him.

'Yeah. I haven't really talked to anyone about it. Ino, Chouji and I do, but what I tell them doesn't go down that deep. I can't bring myself to do it. Kurenai-sensei I talk to about him more though, but at the same time I'd told her I wanted to become a cool adult like him… so I couldn't exactly go running to her like a little kid now could I? And you remember what my dad said to me during the Sasuke incident…'

Temari looked down at their game. 'Yeah, I do.'

'It hurt so much,' he told her in a quiet voice. She raised her eyes to see him with his head down. 'I couldn't stop them, I couldn't help him…'

His hand gripped his knees tightly, Temari instinctively leaning across the board to place her hand on his. She felt herself blush slightly at the action. They were barely used to having normal conversation, let alone heartfelt ones.

'He meant a lot to you, ne? Of course it would,' she told him gently.

'I know … but you never expect the kind of pain you feel.'

Her own eyes looked downwards. That she knew too well.

'I killed the man who killed him,' he told her, Temari looking up at him in slight shock. Shikamaru? Killing? She knew it was the way of the shinobi but she found it hard to believe that someone as gentle, moreover lazy, as him could do it.

'He's on our land somewhere… buried.'

She gripped his hand tightly in response, feeling hot tears on her hand.

'Crybaby,' she said in a soft voice, trying to get him to lighten up.

He smirked in response, but looked up at her all the same, his eyes reflecting pools of grief and sadness. Temari gave him an understanding smile.

'I tell you, Temari, because I know that despite the spiteful comments and physical abuse, you're human.' Temari retracted her hand from his and poked him. Hard. He smiled in response, wiping his tears away.

'When I'm around everyone else,' he told her, 'it feels like I have to be strong. For Ino, for Chouji, for Kurenai-sensei.' His eyes wandered around their surroundings as he paused to ponder his thoughts. 'But with you, it feels like I don't have to be.'

He looked at her once again. He looked so lost, she thought, afraid even. Hurt. He needed comfort. That's what his eyes told her.

'I know from when we spoke at the hospital, that you wouldn't brush me off, even if you called me a crybaby again later,' he added with a smirk. She smiled back. 'But at that time, you spoke to me, directly to me. Even though you basically did tell me to suck it up, you listened and didn't say anything against me for it. You called me a Crybaby after that, but you never repeated 'spineless coward' to me, even though I know you heard my father call me that. Even though I know you heard everything he said to me, you didn't bring anything else up other than a superficiality. That's why I can't help but talk to you.'

'I know what you mean,' she told him, looking up at the clouds he'd been looking at before. 'We have a strange relationship, don't we? Insults, spiteful comments, arguments and all…but beneath it all there's… well, there's what you said.'

She'd never really been good with emotional stuff herself. She'd grown up with her mother dying when she was a child. Her so-called father was hardly ever around and she ended up doubting whether or not he really saw them as anything more than shinobi. Then there was the younger Gaara, whom she, like everyone else, had feared as a child. It was just her. Her and Kankurou. She had to be strong for them. She was raised with boys and she refused to lose to them. She kept her emotions to herself as best she could and only cried if she really had to, when she was all alone.

Turning back to Shikamaru, she noticed he still looked a little down.

'Do you want to go watch the clouds or something?' she asked him. He looked over at her, face etched with emotion, and nodded. She packed up the game before he could argue, and brought the tea back to his mother, thanking her profusely.

'Are we going or not?' she asked him, wondering why he wasn't moving yet.

'I don't feel like walking into the streets like this. People ask too many troublesome questions.'

She smirked to herself.

'Ok, then we'll just stay on your property. Shall we go find a place then?'

After a bit of walking around, trying to find a place that Shikamaru deemed worthy enough for his favourite hobby, they stopped in a pasture, flowers everywhere.

Temari looked around in awe. It was a rare sight for her to see such beautiful flowers growing naturally. And to think, it was practically Shikamaru's. He watched her carefully, before sitting down and lying back on the grass, staring at the sky. The wind gently caressed their bodies, bringing a feeling of comfort on Temari's part.

They shared a somewhat comfortable silence, Temari unsure at first if she should say something or not. As time went on, however, she realised he didn't expect her to, nor did it matter to him if she didn't say anything.

As they lay side by side, a metre of grass between them, Temari moved her hand over his in a kind gesture, trying to tell him that if he had anything to say to her then it was ok to break the silence too. It was a gesture that told him she was there. He responded by brushing her cheek with a flower a few moments later. She looked over at him, as he lay there, holding her hand, grasping a flower above his chest, eyes on her. His bored expression was gone, and his eyes shone with gratefulness and a little happiness, the rest of his face perfectly adorned with a genuine smile he reserved for moments like this. Her eyes fell to the flower grasped in his hand again and she couldn't help but stare back at him with the same affection. He gave it to her. It was nothing special. Just a beautiful flower that he could reach. He tried to put it in her hair but apparently that didn't work well lying down. Smiling to herself, she watched as he sat up to put it in there properly, before lying down closer to her, his head about level with her stomach.

She understood.

She brought her hand to touch his hair, and urged him to put his head on her stomach if he so wished. He obliged. She looked at his hair, tied up, wondering what it looked like down. Allowing curiosity to get the better of her, she sat up and took of the elastic, touching his hair as she smoothed it down. This, of course, resulted in Shikamaru having no more pillow so he rested his head, instead, on her leg. She smiled as he tried to get comfortable but apparently couldn't. After a few more seconds of watching him, she lay back down so that he could have his comfort back.

They lay there in silence, Temari gently stroking his hair as they both watched the sky. She was partially content with the relaxation his hobby brought her and partially amazed at how soft his hair really was.

'Troublesome woman?' he asked, sounding very much like a little child.

'Yes annoying man?'

'Thank you,' he said simply.

She smiled. 'You're welcome. You really have changed a lot since the last time I was here.'

'I know,' he said to her.

'You're becoming a fine man,' she said with a small laugh.

He smiled in response. 'Hopefully.'

'You are,' she insisted.

He didn't respond. And she didn't expect him to. She almost smirked to herself but instead let a genuine smile appear on her lips. She supposed this was a moment where their competition to have the last word with each other didn't matter. A warm feeling graced her chest at the thought, and she found herself massaging his scalp and gently caressing his face. She smiled, after the brief inward gasp of surprise, when she felt his lips brush her fingers.

'Troublesome woman?' he asked again, in the same innocent voice.

'Yes, troublesome man?'

She felt him smirk at her word choice before she felt him move off her completely and slide up beside her and offering his arms open for an embrace. She smiled, letting him wrap his arms around her as they sat and watched the clouds, his hair tickling her cheeks and neck, and his presence tickling her heart.

'Beneath our snide remarks and spiteful comments,' he said softly, 'there's always been this.'

She closed her eyes and nodded slowly in understanding, breathing in his scent, and resting her head on his chest. She'd never been able to place her finger on it but a part of her had always known. There was indeed a lot more to Shikamaru and Temari than an alliance and 'troublesome' duties.


End file.
